We've all been there where we go to a cafe only to receive a beverage we did not like or wasn't brewed right. Although few things can be done at this point, is giving feedback the right thing to do? Would anything change if you did give feedback? As a barista, it may be uncomfortable to receive feedback, however, it's far from the end of the world.…

Over the last few years we've seen the home coffee shop trend on social media explode. Home baristas are hosting coffee shop experiences in their home for their community. These experiences are very impactful for local communities as well as the broader coffee industry. In this episode, we unpack why they're so important.Shop Our Coffee: https://bi…

The most important part of running a coffee shop business are the people you serve and the people you work with. You can get away with having bad coffee, but you can't get away with serving people poorly or not having a good team around you. In this episode, we talk all about investing specifically into your team behind the coffee bar which has the…

The last episode in our Level Up series is focused on leveling up your palate. Because taste is at the core of coffee, developing your palate is probably the most important thing you could do as a coffee enthusiast or professional. It can drastically change how you experience coffee and might even be the thing that you're missing from enjoying coff…

We're continuing our series on Leveling Up in coffee and this episode is for management and cafe owners specifically. We cover have 1 on 1s with your team, why it's important to spend time behind bar, and how to surround yourself with the right people to supercharge your growth. Being a manager or owner of a coffee business is challenging, but if y…

This episode is all about leveling up as a coffee roaster, and it's packed with very practical steps you can take. We go from broad roast curves to in depth, nerdy green coffee storage solutions. Whether you're just getting started or you've been roasting for years, we think this is packed with valuable information we wish we had years ago.…

We continue our podcast series on how to level up in coffee. In this episode, we're diving into what that looks like for baristas. We cover things like going above and beyond in your job, paying close attention to what happens behind the bar, why might need to leave your current job, and so much more. This episode gets very practical for baristas a…

We're starting a podcast series on how to level up in coffee. This series is all about what we can do as those working in the coffee industry to get better at our craft. We're hoping this series is filled with practical steps that you can start making immediately in your coffee journey. This episode is an introduction and general overview of how we…

A little less than 50% of businesses fail in their first five years. As we approach 5 years as a business, we're reevaluating where we're at, whether or not we want to keep doing this, and what it will take to keep going for the next five years. In this episode, we give a few pointers for reevaluating your coffee businesses and how to decide when t…

Taboo coffee orders. The drinks you get on a rare occasion that you don't want to be caught secretly really enjoying. In all seriousness though, does it have to be that way? Do syrups in drinks have to be looked upon? In this episode we take about some of our taboo coffee orders and the role specialty beverages play in coffee shops!…

There's been a lot of buzz around co-fermented coffees lately. With new regulations allowing these coffees to be used in competition, it's becoming increasingly controversial as the industry opens its doors to this processing method. Despite progress in this direction, it's not coming without a lot of push back. In this episode, we talk about what …

It's SCA Expo season! Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it, but we did hear all the talk about the latest coffee gear released this year. We have thoughts. In this episode of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions, we cover some of the releases that stood out to us at SCA Expo 2024.

Most coffee shops offer pastries with their beverages, and it's becoming popular to have a breakfast food menu as well. Is having a food menu necessary? In this episode, we talk about some of the great experiences we've had at coffee shops as well as what are some of the businesses pros and cons of serving a food menu.…

Narrative Coffee, here in WA, models excellence very well. Everything from their coffee program to their food menu is refined for a very pleasant experience. Alex Scariotta, the new owner of Narrative Coffee, shares more about what it they're doing at Narrative, his personal story of growth in coffee, and how important it is to build an exceptional…

Starting a coffee shop or a coffee roastery are both challenging and a risk. After having started a roasting company and helped owners start cafes, we've noticed some of the differences between these two coffee businesses. In this episode, we take apart the pros and cons of starting both a coffee shop and a roasting company.…

This past week, decaf coffee got the spotlight and it happened to be at the US Brewers Cup Championship. The 2024 USBrC winner, Weihong Zhang, wins first place competing with a decaf coffee. This is a huge turning point to see decaf crush at a competition and it wasn't even a Gesha! In this podcast episode, we talk about decaf, where we see this go…

A special episode with Jimmy The Barista where we talk about what his journey has been like creating content around coffee, how he started in coffee, and his mindset in growing as a creator. Listen until the end because there are so many insightful pieces of information for creatives, coffee shop owners, and roasters. Subscribe to Jimmy: https://ww…

As a coffee roaster, offering wholesale to coffee shops is core to our business model. For us, however, it's not just about getting more coffee out the door. Coffee roasters and coffee shops should be working together to help each other thrive and succeed. In this episode, we talk about how we set coffee shops up for success when they partner with …

As coffee roasters, we understand that we can only roast a coffee to the potential of the green coffee itself. In many cases, we're doing our best to try to maximize the potential of each coffee and minimize the loss it may go through in the roasting process. That being said, starting with quality, fresh green is plays a vital role to roasting good…

Coffee competition has always intrigued us, and these last few months have been very busy because of that. Sergei just came back from competing in both cup tasters and brewers cup, and in this episode we talk about his prep, routine, and what it takes to compete on the national level.

Something we hear and are asked often is how we brew coffee based on origin. The same goes for our roasting approach as well. In this episode we talk about how different origins impact the brewing and roasting process and if it's even as important as we think it is.

When brewing pour over coffee, for the most part you're left with either a flat bottom or cone shape brewer. Both of the major categories come with their own nuances, flavor profiles, and recipes. In this podcast episode, we dive into our experiences with brewers like the Orea, V60, and Stagg brewer as well as how we approach brewing with them.…

Recently, we've heard of several well known coffee brands sell either a big chunk or all of their business to other big brands. Oftentimes people call this selling out and paint in negative light, but is that always the case? In this episode, we share our thoughts and look at past acquisition to get a better idea of what this could mean.…

We've all been there. You order a coffee at a coffee shop and the barista asks you to answer a few simple questions on the screen. Tipping your barista is normal, and we believe it should happen, however, with the increase in tipping amounts and inflation, has it gone too far? What are tips in hospitality for? We answer these questions in episode 1…

We've been running our coffee roasting business for 4 years now, and we're still learning old and new things in the process. As 2023 comes to an end, we're reflecting back on two big things that we're walking away with that being owners of Mirror Coffee Roasters taught us.

This year flew by fast, and very quickly did we pocket another year as a coffee roasting company. It's been an incredible year of relationships, connection, incredible coffee, and competition. In this episode of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions podcast, we look back at the year and reminisce on our favorite moments of the year.…

The holidays are always bringing people together and there's a good chance coffee will make its way amongst conversation and gatherings. This is a great opportunity to expose people to tasty coffee and hopefully give them the eye opening experience many of us have had about coffee. In this episode, we share a few tips on how to get your friends and…

Filter roasts and espresso roasts have been around for a while in coffee, however, are they absolutely necessary? Can't you just have one roast for both brew methods? In this episode, we touch up on the pros and cons of different roasts for different brew methods and why for now we've chosen an omni roast approach.…

Coffee roasting, water chemistry, and coffee flavor notes are all linked together and are a bit more complicated than we'd like. Both coffee roasting and water chemistry create a flavor experience unique to the combination, however, when one is off, things usually are thrown off.

Roasting coffee is similar to dialing in a cup of coffee or shot of espresso. Under and over extracting your coffee leaves you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth, and there's nothing better than a perfect extraction. The same goes for roasting, and in this episode, we dive into how we perceive dialing in our batches and what we're tasting for i…

This is a Q&A episode where we got some questions from you and answered them on the podcast. We cover a few topics including today's coffee culture, what we did professionally before starting Mirror, and our greatest fears and dreams.

An eventful few weeks for the coffee industry with new gear rolling out at World of Coffee in Milan as well as recent coffee news that's worth highlighting. On this episode, we highlight the new Mahlkonig EK Omnia, the updated La Marzocco Strada X, and the recent news with Alaska Airlines.

One of the key data points we use in coffee is time. Whether we're pulling espresso, making a pour over, or roasting coffee, it's something we're always keeping track of. Although it's helpful in the process, what does it actually tell us? What limitations does this key data point have? We dig into these questions on this episode of the Coffee Roas…

Coffee is mainly water with small, extracted coffee particles. Water makes up most of your beverage and depending on its alkalinity, hardness, and other factors, it could make or break a delicious coffee. In this episode we talk about our frustrations with water, how we've adjusted our brewing and QC practices around water, and how we're planning t…

Loving the craft behind coffee is one thing, but building a thriving business is another. Often times we hear people start coffee shops because they love it which is an absolute must when embarking on such a journey. It doesn't take long to realize that is not the only part necessary to being successful. In this episode, we dig deep into the soberi…

Working in as a barista in coffee looks great from outside, but once you're in it, the job comes with many challenges and oftentimes compensated poorly. In this episode, we give practical tips on how someone can build a career in coffee and set themselves up for success and growth in the industry.

With over 100 episodes recorded and over 50k streams, we break down how we started our podcast, our current gear setup right now, and why we need more media like this in the coffee industry. We hope this inspires someone to take the step of faith forward and launch their own podcast whether it's about coffee or not.…

Here in the Pacific Northwest and especially Bellingham, WA, we have drive-thru coffee everywhere. It's become very popular and although we have so many, it's still not our preferred coffee stop which has only made us wonder what we would do if we started one. In this podcast episode, we talk through our experiences with drive-thru coffee and a few…

Starting a coffee shop or a coffee roasting business can be difficult as it is, but you can do a few things to make it easier on yourself. In this episode we talk about the one thing we highly recommend that will launch your coffee shop business in the right direction and set you up for success.

Coffee culture all around the world is very different from what we experience here in the states. Since we just returned from travels in Singapore and Indonesia, we invited our friend Justin to talk about his experience in Korea, his most memorable coffee experiences there, and what makes coffee culture in Asia so special.…

Coffee sustainability and transparency is important, and in this episode, we debrief on our recent trip to Indonesia and the eye opening experiences we had with farmers and producers around this topic. This is a complex conversation that is far larger than a short podcast episode, but we hope this broadens your perspective and gives you something t…

We chat with Taylor, who helps produce coffee in Indonesia, about their local coffee scene, different processing methods, and why talking about coffee sustainability is not all about paying farmers more. This episode is filled with insight into coffee farming at origin and its overlap with culture.

Iced coffee and cold brew is a perfect drink for summer, but it comes with a few drawbacks. Getting optimal extraction, flavor clarity, and complex flavor can be challenging to get out of these drinks, but in this episode, we share a few practical tips on how to get the most out of your iced coffees including how we make our cold brew delicious.…

Making coffee outdoors has become one of our favorite things to do. On this trip to the WA coast, we share our process and how we make coffee out in the wild during these trips. We would highly recommend trying to make coffee in the wild at least once!

Jessica Greenwalt, a creative director at Vayner3, joins us to talk about all things web3, emerging technologies, and the implications of different technology. She's also the founder of Pixelkeet and Co-Founder of Unum Game and has extensive experience with the newest technologies being developed today. We talk about espresso and milk terminology, …

There's so much happening in the coffee industry. This episode is our *almost* unfiltered take on a few trends we see in coffee and breaking down what we think about them. No offense is intended and we hope you can enjoy the banter.

We're obsessed with coffee. Recently we realized it's now taking over our travel itineraries and has become a huge part of how we plan for trips. How has coffee changed that over the years? What do we predict might be coming in the future for coffee and travel? We talk about all of that in episode 107 of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions Podcast.…

Ansley Randall is a graphic designer and mural artist based out of Florida. She's played a huge part here at Mirror Coffee Roasters by designing our new coffee bags which were released earlier this year. In this episode, we talk about her journey from barista to graphic designer and a few helpful tips on how coffee businesses can work with graphic …

Comandante is known for their superior hand coffee grinders that have been seen being used on the competition stage including this year at the 2023 Brewers Cup Championships at SCA. Comandante has led their own brewing competitions for years now and this year they came to Vancouver, BC. We knew we wanted to participate, but we had no idea we'd be w…

Coffee competitions are a big part of specialty coffee. It gives those working in coffee an opportunity to showcase their passion for the craft. In this episode, we sit down with Keziah who competed this year as a US barista competitor. She talks about why she competed, her advice to others considering it, and some of her biggest takeaways from bei…